martes, 9 de junio de 2009

Spain is suffering the biggest economic downturn since the statistical records are available. A fall in GDP of 3% in the first quarter of 2009 and 800,000 new unemployed people have shown the hardness of the situation.

The party is over and somebody has to face it. The government blames the construction sector and the international financial crisis but does not go beyond in its analysis what is hampering the possibilities to do something helpful.

The government has recently come with the idea of changing the economic model from a brick-based economy to a knowledge-based economy. However, as a first measure, a 8,000€ millions pack has been approved to fund works at city councils in a desperate attempt to stop unemployment figures, which reached 17.36% and over passed 4 million people.

You have to excuse me but, as an economist, I do neither understand about “green shoots” nor about “Brussels sprouts”. What I know is that only a good analysis of the situation and a coherent plan of action will drive us out of the crisis and I haven’t seen any of them yet.